Despite huge allocations, special schools in South-West cry for attention
Their stories are rarely told. And when they are told, it is often from the angle of pity, discrimination and pathetic livelihood. But in an eight-week investigation across three southwestern states - Lagos, Ogun and Oyo, our correspondent captured the inspiring stories of students with special needs, who, despite unfair treatment, socio-cultural disadvantages, as well as inadequate instructional and infrastructural facilities in their various schools, are still pursuing their academic and vocational ambitions. From Nurudeen Oyewole, Lagos
Teniola Ibitoye, a 12-year-old Primary Six pupil of Atunda Olu School for the Physically and Mentally Challenged, Surulere, Lagos, is paralysed in both legs. Her mother, Mrs Titilayo Ibitoye, said it had been a routine for her to wheel her daughter to the gate of their house, where her school bus would convey her to school. She will also take her to the house when she returns. It has not been a pleasant experience, she said.
“She wasn’t born like this. We were told she would walk again if we could take her to China for surgery. That’s a lot of money and we don’t have the means,’’ Mrs Ibitoye said as she managed to place her daughter on a stool outside their mini flat at number 7, Adedapo Street, Tejuosho, Lagos.
Teniola’s parents are still struggling to provide the school craft utensils her teachers recommended for practice at home. Their poor financial status is reflected by her old and weak wheelchair, which headrest is torn and in need of urgent replacement.
Despite these challenges, there are pleasant reports about Teniola. Currently, she holds the award of the Best Performing Special Student in Lagos State, having won the statewide competition organised by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
“She has a seamless ability to learn and grasp quickly. She is exceptional in other subjects, except arithmetic, where she has some challenges. In fact, she has always taken the first position, right from Primary One,” her mother said. This was corroborated by the headmistress of her school, Abosede Oyeniran.
At school, Teniola is also the favourite of many teachers owing to her combination of academic brilliance and exceptional skills in bead making. Our correspondent, who was in her class, also noticed the pace and finesse with which she wove her beads, a handicraft assignment given to her.
Also watching in admiration, Mrs. Oyediran said, “She does things many people wouldn’t have imagined she would do, considering her condition and age. I mean she does what many able bodies cannot do.”
Speaking to our correspondent, Teniola said: “I will like to proceed to secondary school, and possibly, a technical university. I would really like to be an entrepreneur, running my own business
in bead making.”
Another 12-year-old Primary Five pupil of the same school, Tobi Bolarinwa, who battles with mental impairment, prides himself as a growing star in bead and soap making, shoe cobbling and drawing. He is also gifted in sports.
Teniola and Bolarinwa are not the only gifted pupils in their school; there are 133 others who represent five per cent of the 2,821 special students spread across 31 Inclusive Units and five main special schools in Lagos State. As the degree of their disabilities varies, so do their talents. On the list are those with hearing, sight and mental impairments, those with the Down Syndrome and those with physical disabilities.
Findings by Daily Trust on Sunday showed that a lot of disadvantaged students with amazing talents are hardly mentioned.
At the Inclusive Unit of the Amosun Primary School, Agege, Lagos, a 16-year-old Sina Akomojo is undaunted despite his challenges. Suffering from what his teacher called intellectual disability, Akomojo’s impairment appears to be hereditary. According to the head of the Inclusive Unit of the school, Oyenike Kayode, both his father and mother are said to be suffering from a similar impairment.
“His father is into carpentry, but his mother has no job. Both of them are mentally impaired,” Oyenike said.
Akomojo is a delight to watch anytime he sings. The Primary Four darling of many teachers and classmates sang four different tracks of popular gospel musicians to our correspondent, saying he would like to be a gospel artiste or professional aluminum fabricator in future.
One of Akomojo’s classmates is a 14-year-old Abass Muhammad. He was described as a multitalented teenager by his class teacher. Muhammad, who has a father who works as a petrol attendant and a mother who sells pap and local bean cake (akara), is suffering from hearing impairment. He is highly skilled in drawing anything that catches his fancy, as well as gifted in tailoring.
His regret is that he has not succeeded in convincing two of his friends who equally suffer from hearing impairment to also go to school. Using a sign language, which was interpreted by his teacher, he said, “They prefer to beg for alms.”
Furthermore, Latifat Salaudeen, a 17-year-old pupil of the Inclusive Unit of the All Saints Primary School, Ifako/ Ijaiye, also nurses the aspiration to become a professional caterer or tailor. Latifat, who has hearing impairment, was very eager to demonstrate her skills in tailoring, using one of the sewing machines provided for her school by the SUBEB.
“I can sew buba and sokoto (native dress worn by Yoruba men). I have sewn iro and buba (native top and wrapper among Yoruba women) for my mother. I can also prepare puff puff and meatpie,” she said excitedly as she listed her skills as interpreted by her class teacher, Mrs Funmilayo Kasunmu.
Latifat is not alone. In her class is Mayowa Agoro, 15, a choirmaster among his peers despite suffering from hearing impairment. With his mastery of the sign language, Mayowa was said to have coordinated the children’s musical group that held a rendition of songs for some past students of the school at an organised party.
“He was the cynosure of all eyes at the party. It has always been his dream to lead a band. I am aware that he belongs to a choir group in his church. He also wants to go to university and read Electrical Engineering. He is a committed child,” his teacher testified.
In Ogbomosho, Oyo State, Michael Bomodeokan already has a musical track that has become the rave of the moment among students of his school. Although the Junior Secondary School (JSS) 3 student of the Inclusive Unit of Adeniran Memorial Grammar School suffers from visual impairment, his intellectual creativity has not suffered.
“I have four tracks already composed. They are: Belief, Celebrant, Surprise Me and New Year. The last of the tracks is the most popular among my mates here,” Michael said.
Sunday Godwin is one of Michael’s friends in the same class. Sunday,13, is also visually impaired, but he said he would like to become a football star. He already plays as a striker in the Ogbomosho Blind Football Club (OBFC).
His friends hailed his performance in the friendly match between the club and the College of Education (Special), Oyo recently. Curiously, Sunday’s elder sister, Agnes Godwin, 15, who is in the same JSS 3, is also visually impaired. But unlike her younger brother, Agnes wants to become a teacher; hence she has resolved to obtain a National Certificate in Education (NCE) at the completion of her senior secondary school programme.
Also in Oyo State, our correspondent met a Primary Five pupil of Omoyeni Special School, Orita Aperin, Ibadan, Innih Williams, who spoke good English. He was admitted into the school after his parents relocated to Ibadan. The 13-year-old former pupil of Pacelli School for the Blind in Lagos aspires to be a saxophonist. He is a brilliant student with exceptional performance in all his subjects, as well as literary and debating activities.
One of his classmates, Bola Olubayo, also a visually impaired pupil, on the other hand, is endowed with vocational skills. Bola led our correspondent into the school’s vocational section, where she demonstrated her skill in weaving stove thread.
For Ayomide Ogunleye, a six-yearold pupil of Daniel Akintonde Model School for Children with Special Needs, Adigbe, Abeokuta, Ogun State, her hearing impairment is not enough to stop her comprehensive ability. Still in Primary One, Ayomide’s family and friends admire her ability to comprehend the use of sign language.
Her mother, Mrs. Folasade Ogunleye said, “Her teacher has told me on many occasions that she is a gifted child. Despite the fact that I don’t know language myself, I have begun to learn from many of her demonstrations.”
Ayomide’s case is not different from that of Caleb Bankole, another Primary One pupil in the same school, who also has hearing impaired. He has already been nick-named “Wonder Boy,”
According to his mother, “He is interested in virtually all vocations one can imagine. When he sees a tailor he goes to sit with him and observes. When he sees a carpenter at work he moves close to learn. Even when his father is not in the car, he will simply move to the driver’s seat and start experimenting with the steering. Despite his hearing challenge, I have resolved to be a good parent to him, taking solace in Jehovah’s directive in Isaiah 35 verses 5 and 6, which states that the mouth of the deaf shall praise the Lord. I think children like him deserve more love from us as parents because we must not do anything to make them feel discrimination.”
Daily Trust on Sunday further gathered that students with special needs across the three southwestern states visited face several challenges in public schools despite their numerous potentials. These challenges range from parental neglect, societal discrimination, lack of support from government, to poor regulatory frameworks.
A report published in 2009, “Scoping Study: Disability Issues in Nigeria” noted: “Within the contemporary Nigerian society, there is little appreciation that disability is fundamentally an issue inexorably linked to and rooted in human rights. The common perception, held by policy makers and the public at large is that disabled people and disability issues are viewed in terms of charity and welfare. Disabled people, irrespective of where they live, are statistically more likely to be unemployed, illiterate, to have less formal education, and have less access to developed support networks and social capital than their able-bodied counterparts.”
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as referenced in the 2011 World Report on Disability, recognises the right of all children with disabilities to be included in general education systems, and to receive the individual support they require.
Similarly, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the national regulatory body that coordinates the activities of primary and junior secondary school education in Nigeria, describes special education need as one of its components. The commission said that to ensure the successful implementation of special education, it makes two per cent of the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund available to all the State Universal Basic Education Boards on a regular basis. The fund is expected to be shared between government and private providers of special needs education for children across the country at the ratio of 70 to 30 per cent.
In a response via mail, made available to Daily Trust on Sunday by Isaac Oduah on behalf of the Director of Social Mobilisation of the UBEC, Bello Kagara, the commission was explicit on specific projects that would be carried out with its funds. The projects include the building of infrastructure, renovation and rehabilitation of existing structures, as well as the purchase of special equipment and instructional materials for special needs pupils and students. The commission, however, frowns at the use of its funds to purchase items such as chalks, crayons, among others.
Ironically, while UBEC reports show that “the states have used the funds allocated to them satisfactorily,” and the commission claims it conducts regular supervision on how funds disbursed to the states are used, what was seen in some of the schools visited across the three states show otherwise.
In schools like the All Saints Primary School (inclusive), Lagos; Amosun Primary School (Inclusive) and Atunda Olu School for the Physically and Mentally Challenged, Lagos; despite the fact that there are appreciable vocational and instructional materials for the pupils to work with, pupils and their teachers still insisted that they needed good infrastructure, more teachers and special instructional materials.
According to one headmistress who asked for anonymity, “While I cannot deny the fact that the Lagos State Government has tried tremendously in recent years, I must say we still have a long way to go. For instance, the standard is for us to have a class of five students to a teacher, but what we currently cope with is 15 students to one teacher. Again, the instructional materials don’t usually go round during practical classes in the vocational section. We need more teachers and permanent physiotherapists.”
At the Centre for the Blind (a special school for primary school students with accommodation) in
Ogbomosho, there are legions of demands from students and teachers. One of the teachers in the school told Daily Trust on Sunday that: “What we are lacking are too numerous to mention. As we speak, we need Perkins Brailler; Marburg Braille frame; writing frames with stylus; pocket writing frames; guiding canes; pocket typewriters; cardboards; typing sheets; a water tap; rehabilitation of existing boarding houses and the building of additional ones because the few we have are over-crowded and not in a good state.”
Daily Trust on Sunday observed that some of the hostel rooms housing the students were in a bad state, with faded paint on the walls, as well as floors without tiles or carpets. Also, there were no fans in the rooms while the iron-beds were old and mattresses torn. Their toilets were also in terrible states. It was observed that some of the students also use their rooms as kitchen.
In Omoyeni Basic School for Special Needs Children, Orita Aperin, Ibadan, two instructors who spoke to our correspondent at the school’s vocation section complained bitterly, saying they had to use their money to procure instructional materials for the pupils because there had not been any government allocation for that.
“I joined the school in 1998, and I can say categorically that there has not been any government investment on instructional materials here. It is only the school headmaster that sometimes dips hands into his pockets to procure some of these instructional materials. In some instances, we had to tax ourselves to get few instructional materials for the children. We need many things for our work here, such as coconut fibre, nylon rope, beads, canes and soap making materials, among others,” Odula Akande, a visually impaired instructor said.
Our correspondent also observed that the three rooms allocated to the vocation section of the school were empty, while the small toilet meant for all the pupils is not only close to the entrance gate but also in a terrible state of disrepair.
But the chairman of the Oyo State SUBEB, Mrs Aderonke Makanjuola, is of the opinion that all is well in the special needs schools in the state. Her response to our correspondent’s enquiry reads, “We have 21 public (special) schools in the state. Instructional materials are regularly supplied to the schools based on their needs. Also, dilapidated structures are renovated where necessary. New classrooms and hostels were also constructed where required.”
In Ogun State, although there are a couple of new buildings within the premises of Ade Okubanjo School for the Blind, Ijebu-Igbo, bearing 2013 UBEC inscriptions, there are older blocks of classrooms that are still in use and are in awful conditions. For instance, the block bearing the inscription, “Model School,” is in a state of disrepair. Its paint is faded, the entire building looks distressed, and the block which houses the school staff room is also begging for attention.
In Abeokuta, at the Daniel Akintonde Model School for Children with Special Needs, Adigbe, a teacher who pleaded anonymity for fear of victimisation said although the school was lucky to have a number of good buildings, the supply of instructional materials for the pupils, another basic mandate for the UBEC/SUBEB, has been poor.
The teacher said: “Considering the fact that many of these children are suffering from hearing impairment, one would have expected the government to invest more in basic instructional materials such as captioned videos, pictorials, internetpowered demonstrational materials as obtained elsewhere. I don’t think it would be too much for the government to assist some of them who are not totally deaf with bionic ears or what we call cochlear implant.”
From Maryland, Lagos, to Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta and Agodi, Ibadan, civil servants saddled with the responsibility of special needs education in the states hoarded information at their disposal, saying, “We want to retire in peace; we are at the twilight of our careers.”
At the Lagos State Universal Basic Education (LASUBEB), Maryland, it took about three weeks for our correspondent to secure access to the schools to interact with the students. The approval of the request was a subject of debate among co-curricular, school support services and press and public relations departments. Senior officials expressed serious misgivings about allowing our correspondent to visit the schools, claiming they were not willing to risk their careers for whatever backlash that may result from the report. They, however, said they considered the assurances of their press and public relations officer before eventually granting the permission.
After the visit to the schools, attempts by Daily Trust on Sunday for clarification on the efforts of government for special needs schools were resisted by the Director of School Support Services, Mr K.A Abatan, under whom the special needs education unit functions. He refused to answer various questions, including the one on the regularity of SUBEB’s supervisory visits to the schools in question.
He said: “Whatever you have gathered on the field is what we have done. I really won’t want to go beyond that. What I know is that the provision of infrastructure and instructional materials is based on needs. The schools do supply us with their needs and we act on them.”
It was more difficult to obtain information concerning the schools in Ogun State. From the schools to the SUBEB and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, every officer needed the approval of superior officers.
At the School for Children with Special Needs in Shagamu, the headmistress would not utter a word unless there was a directive to that effect. “What you are coming to do is like ‘prying’ into our affairs, or should I say you want to gather data and for me to permit you to interact with the children. I will have to get the ministry’s permission to do so,” she said.
The story was the same at Ade Okubanjo School for the Blind, Ijebu-Igbo, where the headmistress said that despite the benefit inherent in the eventual report, it would be “abominable” for her to make any comment without an ‘order from above.’ “I have been in this job for many years, and with the few years left, I want to retire in peace,” she said.
Unfortunately, such permission was not forthcoming at the SUBEB and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Calls placed to the phone number of the SUBEB chairman, Olatunde Okewole, were not answered, neither did he reply text messages our correspondent sent to him.
At the SUBEB office in Okemosan, Abeokuta, the press officer referred our correspondent to a director, who also sent him to the ministry. At the ministry, the press officer, Kayode Oduyebo, said he needed to meet the Director, Special Education, E. A Akinyemi.
“So what have you found out in our school?” Akinyemi asked. When he was told that their headmistresses refused to allow interaction with their pupils, he quipped, “It is because they can’t criticise their benefactors.”
He also declined to respond to questions, saying he won’t be able to say anything if there was not a firm directive from the commissioner for education. When the message was relayed to the press officer, he said our correspondent should either wait till the commissioner gave her approval (with no definite date) or leave Ogun State out of the three states being focused on.
When contacted, the commissioner, Mrs Modupeola Mujeta, replied through a text message, informing that she was in a meeting but had directed Oduyebo to communicate with our correspondent. The press officer later called to express his displeasure with our correspondent for “going behind to reach the commissioner.” After his frayed nerves were calmed, he promised to call again when the appointment was made.
Twenty-four hours later, Oduyebo was reminded of his promise, but he claimed he had been unable to reach the director on phone. All subsequent efforts to reach any senior official in Ogun State proved abortive. Another text was sent to the commissioner to brief her of the development, but she has not responded till the time of publishing this report.
In Oyo State, despite the SUBEB chairman’s response that everything was in order at the state’s special schools, our correspondent still proceeded to the Board’s office in Agodi, Ibadan. The chairman was said to be attending a meeting in Abuja, but the Director, School Services, Mrs Olaide Ladipo, conceded that despite what the UBEC provides on an annual basis, there are still challenges.
She said the needs of the school were addressed based on demands, rotation of projects and senatorial spread. She said the first batch of rotational attention being given to all the 21 special primary schools was about to be completed this year, with three outstanding schools. Though she failed to give the names of the schools, she said the Board would not be able to work on new demands until they attended to the three schools.
When our correspondent asked of the details of the funds being disbursed from the SUBEB, Ladipo said approval to see such details could only be granted by her superior, the executive secretary, Elder Delani Binuyo.
Although Binuyo agreed to grant such approval, he nonetheless put a caveat, that our correspondent would be allowed to see such details but he would not be given a copy. He asked our correspondent to meet with Mrs Ladipo and the director of planning, research and statistics, who normally signs for the collection of the Oyo State funds in Abuja, saying the documents were in his custody. The director of planning, however, said he would need to personally meet with Binuyo.
At Binuyo’s office, our correspondent was asked to stay outside while Ladipo, Binuyo and the director of planning deliberated. A few minutes later, our correspondent was ushered in again, but this time, the once friendly Binuyo had a different countenance.
“With the current circumstances in the state, we may not be able to avail an outsider with salient information you requested for. You are an outsider in the SUBEB,” he said.
When our correspondent explained that there was the need to see if the figures with the state were in tandem with those from the UBEC, to avoid imbalanced reportage, the director of planning interjected with a threat, “Sir, I understand what he is trying to say, but I can assure you that if your report is against the government, or whatever figure you quote is different from what we have, we will sue you. And you will be forced in the court to declare your source of information!”
Despite the director’s threat, Daily Trust on Sunday was able to obtain the details of the funds so far released from the UBEC for special education to the three states, between 2005 and 2016. The document shows that within the period, the sum of N599 million was disbursed to the three southwestern states in the last 11 years. A further analysis shows that while both Lagos and Oyo states have been able to access N207, 480, 546.21 each, Ogun State has only been able to access N184, 039, 222.21.
According to Esther Bishen, the UBEC official in charge of special education, the commission gives the same amount to each state on an annual basis. The shortage in the case of Ogun State may not be unconnected with the fact that it has not accessed its 2016 allocation, which, the record shows is put at N23, 434,324.00.
Debo Adeniran, Executive Director, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) linked the reluctance of government officials to making key information available to colonial legacies and long years of military rule.
“The agencies and parastatals are largely populated and directed by people who have subjugated idiosyncrasies and slavish submission to colonial authorities, which of course, logically cannot but rule at the back of the people, denying them vital information about the operations of the government. The other corollary to this is the long years of military incursion into governance. The military ruled by secretive command structure, never by meddlesome democratic inquisitions from the governed. The combined effect of this is the glaring loss of openness, transparency and accountability in government.”
Also speaking with Daily Trust on Sunday, the chairman of the Nigerian Association of the Blind, Oyo State chapter, and vice principal, Adeniran Memorial Grammar, Ogbomosho, Lasisi Jasper said, “Despite socio-cultural challenges, discrimination, inadequate infrastructure and instructional materials, among others, I will say we are making progress, albeit slowly. Ours is like the biblical rejected stones emerging today as the cornerstones.”